Living my dream

Exciting times for Dan

Tonight he rolled over for the first time! Wow, can't believe it. I put him on his tummy and left the room, when I came back he was on his back. I asked Andy if he'd moved him and he hadn't. Soooooo, I put him back and we watched him do it again! Twice in one evening. He's so clever! I'm so proud of my little man.

He's actually doing a bit of a change thing on me. We've had a really good routine going since he was around 7 weeks and sleeping through. We would feed at 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 6pm and 8pm then he'd go to bed and sleep through. It worked in well with M&S's feed times and get up times, drop offs and pick ups to daycare so perfect all round.

Today though he decided he didn't want his 10am feed (he had the tiniest amount!). Or at 10.30am (nothing). So I let him sleep. At 12 I decided it was time for food, even though he still wasn't grizzling. Finally. Then he had another good sleep and we got back into the normal routine with a feed at 4pm, 6pm and one coming up.

Isn't it always the way that things go wrong when its a busy day and you are really trying to keep everything timed just so??? We were at lapsit this morning and I had actually tried to feed him a few minutes early so we could leave right on time to get to the Halloween party at daycare when he decided that he wasn't going to feed. Suffice to say we had to stop at home to get a new t-shirt as mine was wet and I wasn't turning up at daycare like that! LOL. Nevermind. He's a happy wee boy and all is well.

I think he's trying to tell us he wants to go to 4 hourly feeds so that's the plan tomorrow. We'll see how we go.

Yesterday morning was exciting. Just after Andy left for work we got a phone call. It was Andy. He was stopped on the road letting a mother duck and her ducklings cross over to the wee pond. So we quickly got our dressing gowns on (well the kids!) and slippers and raced out to see them.

There were 12 in all and of course Mummy duck. Its a funny little pond. More of an outlet (for goodness only knows what?) that joins the back of the estury but this duck comes back every year. I had been waiting to see if she would this year and how many ducklings she would have. The kids were so excited, we went back again today. I can see this becoming a regular thing!

Recycling driving me nuts

I would like some advice.

Who has a recycle bin?

How do you work it?

I am sick of bottles and tins cluttering the bench cause our recycle bin is downstairs. But there is no room in the kitchen and to be honest I don't want it here as with a fortnight between pickups it can get a little smelly (even when you've rinsed the tins).

So help a girl out here. What do you do with your tins and bottles? Where do you keep your bin? What is your system???????????

Things that happened today

1. Matt is sick. Poor wee thing. Keeps throwing up. He doesn't like it one bit. Thankfully he's in bed sleeping now. The first time was in the car just as we were heading off to a friends party. Poor Matt stayed home and wasn't happy one bit. Sarah and I took Dan, but Sarah clung to me the whole time. Boy did she miss Matt!

2. We missed Abby's party cause Dan got really hot and I thought he was getting Matts bug. Seems to be 'ok' now, but still very hot!

3. Dan has started to move by himself. This is how I found him in his cot this morning. He 'should' be positioned with his feet facing the camera.

And funny thing....yep his feet ARE hanging out of the cot and one was even out of his wee sleepwear! LOL.

4. Has anyone got a Canon 400D? Do you know how to make the resolution bigger? It seems like 72dpi is the only DPI I can have. Can anyone help with this?

5. Temperatures were taken several times today (but not of the sick one! LOL) and Andy, Sarah and Dan were all 36.5. So all very normal. LOL!

6. Toast caught a bird. Sigh. I thought he was over that, but it makes 2 in as many days. Hmmmm, spring, baby birds? Easy to catch?

7. I dealt to my emails. I now have just 77 in my inbox instead of 108. LOL! I really need to learn how to cull them better!

8. I got all my paper / embellishments, journalling etc ready for my next LO. Now I just have to find time to sit down and start. Can't wait. I'm looking forward to this one.

9. I went to the supermarket to pick up dinners missing ingredient and DIDN'T buy any chocolate! I can't believe it. I'm so proud of myself. LOL.

Wish us luck for the night, and that no one else gets sick! Hopefully Matt has finished being sick and will get a good nights sleep. Amazing how resilient they are though. As soon as he'd finished throwing up he wanted to race around playing.

Have a good one.

To excited for words...

Something very cool, very very exciting is happening in our little scrapping world. Hang on to your hats girls cause something big is on its way. Bring on November 3rd!

Worst day/best day

Yesterday had all the marks of being a really really bad day. Andy wasn't due home until midnight after 2 weeks of being away and I woke up at 4am with one of those nasty 24 hour bugs. You don't need the details. LOL! Dan had been a bit funny the day before and he woke at 5am. Thinking he might have what I had, I got him up. But he was only hungry. ARGH! So I fed him, put him back to bed and carried on.

At a decent hour I tried ringing everyone to see if someone could come and help. Thankfully Dad managed to come to the rescue. He was here for a couple of hours in the morning and I slept. Whew!

Just as Dad was leaving Andy turned up. I just burst into tears. After 2 weeks of being away he came home 12 hours early. Now I know that doesn't sound like not much, but there is a long story that goes with it and with me being sick after a 'challenging' two weeks alone. He was a life saver. My best friend and love was home.

And the good part of the day began. I basically went to bed and hybernated there while he looked after the kids. I only had to get up to feed Dan! Yes. Must say I was panicking about this as I didn't have anything to eat and not much to drink all day. But we seemed to have got through ok. And I'm now eating again!

Andy brought a heap of Thomas trains home for the kids which was lovely. He also got a few other bits and pieces which they loved. Very cool to watch. However, my bargaining chip has now gone. LOL.

Andy also brought me a birthday present which he 'happened' to pick up duty free. Check out this beauty! I am sooooooo spoilt! THANKS Andy!

On top of this I found out I was voted through to the next round of Scrapboxx's DT call. I was so stoked. There is some major talent showing up on this DT call and I was just excited to get through the first two rounds. Now its onto the next one! Cool. We had to use one product 3 different ways. I choose Heidi Swapp ghost letters. And here is my entry:

Today I'm off to see Andrea and Donna which will be great. I get to have some adult conversation! LOL.

The older kids are at daycare yay. So I almost get a whole day to myself.

Cute story. Matt and Sarah have been running around calling themselves Sheree and Claire (their daycare teachers names). They even set up the chalk board like it is at daycare and kept going to 'daycare' and doing things they would normally do there. Very cute.

And best of all Andy is home. YES! I so miss him when he goes away and for obvious reasons I don't 'advertise' the fact here when he goes. But I miss him so much. This last 4 weeks has been 'worse' than normal. of the 4 weeks he's been gone 3. Now don't get me wrong. I married into this. I knew he travelled as part of his work. BUT that doesn't make it easy. Especially when you're looking after 3 children under 3. I even encouraged him to stay longer when something else came up. But boy was I glad to see him when he arrived home yesterday.

Oh, and check out the Tarisota newsletter. I've got a couple of LO's in it!!!!!

So thats me in a nutshell.

Off to find some photos to send to Lisa for the BB DT Scraps for you comp. Finally! And also to find a pic for the next Scrapboxx DT call round. I found my 'inspiration' yesterday so am keen to get into it.

And thanks everyone for your comments on yesterdays post. You'll now see even more the reason for that LO. I truely don't know how single parents do it!

C U.

Putting myself out there

Here is a LO I did the other day. It is really personal but I've had a tough few weeks and just wanted to put some thoughts on paper. Sometimes for me a LO is therapeutic and it helps me work through stuff. This LO did that. Here is the journalling:

These photos epitomise how I’d like to be as a Mum. Having fun with my children, loving, laughing, living and really taking part in life together. I want to be someone they can look up to, learn from and respect. I want them to know that I love them.

But there are times when it’s not like this.

I don’t want to be an angry Mum, but often I find myself holding back the rage, trying to be patient when I’ve had to say the same thing for the third time and the kids STILL aren’t listening, or being so darn tired that I can’t actually sleep even when I try.

Yes, this photo is how I’d like to be but the reality is different. Being a mother is a NOT all roses and sunshine.

Sometimes I need to be reminded how lucky I am. Today talking to a friend going through ‘mother stuff’ and also reading the blog of a woman who recently lost her daughter reminded me, and you know what,

life IS hard,

AND rewarding

AND stressful

AND wonderful

AND painful

AND joyful

but that’s what being a parent, a Mum is all about, good AND bad. You can’t change that, so instead I’m going to TRY to go with it. Wish me luck.

And here is the LO:

Dare 10 for No 8 Wired is up

This fortnights dare is an interesting one.... use some lettering templates.

Here's my take on it. I used the template as a mask. Put it over some white bazill, slapped a heap of texture paste over the template, gently pulled it off. Waited for it to set. Used some metallic rub ons and ink to give the letters a bit of colour and whaalaaa, a 3D title from lettering templates. At least it got the ole brain cells fired up.

And here are the photos I couldn't put up yesterday...

I got talking to one of the concrete guys asking him if they often had kids out watching them etc and he said every time. Then sure enough in my photo I see not only our kids, but another one too! LOL.

This morning we went to Sophies 3rd birthday party which was great. The kids didn't want to leave and when we were going home they kept asking when they would see Jane again. I love that they get on so well with Sophie, Emma and Jane. Pity we don't have transporter thingees so we could just 'pop' across to Sydney and see them more often.

Whats up?

So what've you got planned for the long weekend? I've got a heap on. This morning Mum and I and the kids went out to Butterfly creek. Man that place is fun. Ok, ok, so its darn expensive, BUT if you get the yearly pass then you only have to go three times in a year and its paid for itself. This means anytime after that its FREE! Now for someone like me who 'needs' to do stuff, its perfect. There are so many parts to it you can spend an hour there or 4 hours there. Love it. And check out this cute photo....

Then tomorrow we've got Sophies 3rd birthday party.

Monday I'm catching up with my sister and her children and then its back to the norm. Whew.

Talking of birthday parties. If you're in Auckland and need to find a cool present go to this shop in Jervois Road. I can't for the life of me remember its name. But its directly opposite the bowling club. All by itself. You can't miss it. Its really cool. Yesterday I got a 3yr old present, a 35 year old present, a 23 year old present and a handbag for myself, LOL! And they are all totally different and perfect for the person (if I do say so myself! LOL). Seriously worth a trip.

Ok, was just crusing some blogs and found this link on Penny's. Its to vote for an international breastfeeding logo. Go check it out and vote for your fav. I love that someone is actually thinking about this and trying to establish a universal sign for it so it becomes 'ok'. Of course as a breastfeeding Mum myself right now it has a little more significance, but its something I think should be every womans right.

Last night while I was hanging out with Daniel, I realised the light was kinda cool so I grabbed my camera and took a few shots. Heaps of them turned out well, but here's a couple:

Hey, did you see I won one of the prizes on BB's latest 'DT Scraps for you' competition? FANTASTIC. I can't wait. Lisa Chadfield is the DT member who will scrap my photos. Now I just have to work out which ones????? Can't wait to see the end results as not only is Lisa uber talented, but a pretty cool chick too!

Oh, and before I forget, yesterday we had a concrete truck outside our place. Man it was sooooo cool. I raced out there with the kids and we watched the concrete being poured from the truck to the ground, then we watched the men, spread it around evenly and finally, smooth the top of it. Matt being a true boy was beside himself and just couldn't take his eyes off everything that was going on, but the best part of course, was when the truck tipped the concrete onto the ground. I raced back inside and grabbed the camera and took a couple of shots (asking first!). The shot of me and the kids is a 'typical' shot when the kids are confronted with something new - cling to Mum. I took the shot by doing the 'hold the camera at arms length' thing. Anyone have any clues how to make my children more 'brave' or is this just a stage or just them? I really don't want them to be afraid of the little things.

Check out our cat - Toast - cruising around! LOL.

Thank you

Wow, what a day yesterday was. I so didn't want to do another post cause it would mean my wonderful husbands post would move down one. But I just had to say thanks. It was one of the best birthdays I've ever had. And I attribute most of it to my wonderful husband. By hijacking my blog he showed me how much he loves me. I was and still am amazed and awestruck with what he did for me - I mean sure it was nice he told you guys about my birthday, but more than that he told me how much he loves me and said some beautiful things. You can't get a better present than that! But it did enable all of you, my blogging friends to see how cool he is, plus you all then sent me lots of wonderful birthday wishes. Man my email keep pinging all day with new comments and it was really lovely. THANK YOU.

On top of that he sent me a parcel which arrived at 7am as I was going out to get the Herald. The courier van was outside pulling out my nappy parcel, but there was also another one! Wow. So I raced in and opened it up and there were 3 (yes, three) handmade cards - one from each child (which Andy made!) and a Xyron design runner, plus 4 additional design cartridges. Very very cool.

Later that day when I arrived home, there was the biggest bunch of flowers I've ever seen waiting on the doorstep. Honestly that man is so thoughtful, so amazing and so good to me. I am ever grateful we met and fell in love.

So HEAPS of other good things happened yesterday. Here they are in a nutshell:

• Lots and lots of emails/phone calls from friends and family
• An email from SM accepting a LO
• An email from BG
• Andy's Mum visited and brought a cake/candles for us to celebrate
• Poppa visited
• I got my hair cut (and showed off my beautiful baby!)
• Flowers from my good buddy Jane
• Matt and Sarah singing me happy birthday as they fell asleep last night
• I finished a LO thats been sitting on my desk since Mon

Ok, so here are some pics from the day. I really don't like seeing myself at the moment, but have decided that thats just tough. This is me right now. Like it or not. So there you go. Love the one of Daniel - stunning eyes. And love the one of Matt, Sarah and Poppa. Boy these kids love their family and their books. This is a typical scene in our house.

Also a LO I did for No 8 Wired, but I'm now not using. Love that Wild Asparagus!!!

Hijacked Blog - Happy birthday T

Surprise!!!!! DH here

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to my lovely wife

Trina

You would never guess that I only tried 1 password to get this far. I will only get 1 chance at this so here goes.....

Each year I need to travel in October and again this year I find myself away for Trinas birthday. Each year I look for something new and shiney from the scrapbooking stores to buy as a present but never feel like its a surprise or good enough. So this year I thought that I might try a different tack to start the big day.

Trina rocks my world. I love her for being her. She is a great mum and her kids love her to bits. She puts up with me, she drives me, she listens to me, she proud of me and I of her.

She has a great eye for a photo & I love what she creates. She has changed over the 7 years that I have known her and I love her more now than ever. There are THOUSANDS of photos of me and the kids but not too many of Trina so I have added a few below that I carry when away.

Happy birthday T. I hope you have a great day.

Love you lots

Andy

.....................................................................................sneaky aye.

Its past 12 so you know what that means?!

Its my birthday and I'm getting OLDER! But the cool thing is that today is going to be less stressful than the rest. The older kids are in daycare and Jane is looking after wee Daniel while I go get my hair cut. Luxery! LOL.

I'm also going to finish a LO that's been sitting on my desk taunting me for 3 (yes THREE) days! I just need to find an 'h'. LOL!

We've had a great time catching up with Jane, and the kids just love their new buddies. Its so cool watching them interact. Seeing Matt standing in the kitchen yelling out 'Soph.....'. Or running around after each other, or giving each other big hugs is delightful. I'll miss them when they go back home!

I had a heap more to add, but its way past my bedtime so I'm thinking my brain has turned to mush. Might 'update' more tomorrow if I can remember.

Don't ya just love a clean fridge?????

I've been in cleaning mode and just check out all the jars and containers (not toooo many of these) which I've cleared out of our fridge! My sister will be shocked that so much has gone to waste (and to be honest so am I), but she'll be very proud that I've actually done this! (in house joke).

My fridge does look very sad now. Can't believe how little food is left. I can see a shop happening tonight/tomorrow (think I might try online again?).

Caught up with Jane this morning. Yay. Her daughters are gorgeous. Tomorrow I'll have to get some pics!

Then Julie popped round and dropped off dinner for me. Shanes specialty Roast chicken! YUMMO. Thanks Shane. I'm so lucky to have friends like this.

Daniel is fine today. Matt seems to be over the drama too. He even asked to hold Dan this morning so that was good.

Got another scrap page on the go so that feels nice too. And for the first time in AGES I've got the journalling and title done first. Makes it so much easier. Yeah! Will pop it up once done.....?

Daniels first swing

I was going to tell you a big long story about my wee mans first swing, but it was rather traumatic and I don't want Mum to feel any worse than she already is so lets just say he had his first swing today which ended rather abruptly with a close up of the concrete. I still feel sick thinking about it, and am glad I wasn't there to see it happen. Poor wee Matt was rather traumatised by the whole thing too. He thought it was his fault. It definitely wasn't, but how do you convey this to a 3 year old? Anyway, after everyone settled back down, I took some pics of my two oldest having the time of their lives. Then theres one of me and Dan. He needed to have a sleep but after what he'd been through I was too scared to put him to bed, so just cuddled him for a while. When it was obvious he was ok, then I relaxed, but either way, its nice to have this pic.

There is also one of the kids in some old nappy boxes. They were 'hiding' in them in the  garage! Cute. Oh and that's our cat Pud too.

Big smiles to my Mum - he's fine.

OMG 3 posts

But you gotta check this out.....

http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=vr3x_RRJdd4

Also a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my lil sis LISA! Looking forward to seeing you next week girl!!!!

2 posts in one day - updated

Ok, so there've been heaps of views, but only one comment on my last post. I've overstepped the mark there! LOL. But thanks to a buddy who will remain nameless who sent me a personal email to say hi. Motherhood certainly does have its drawbacks, but one of the many GOOD things is the sense of belonging you feel when you are going through the same thing at the same time. Hang in there and I will too!

So the reason for this post is cause I'm darn excited that my very dear and just about oldest (as in length of time, not age) friend, Jane arrives tomorrow. I'm so darn excited its not funny.

Anyway shes coming from Oz and today their temp is 35degrees. Well Auckland is going to seem like winter compared to that, yet my gorgeous girl Sarah is wearing her sundress and I just had to take a pic to show Jane and now you guys.

Of course while its still coldish, I had to ensure she had something on underneath and she seems relatively happy with a singlet. Whew.

Check out the attitude of my little man. And yep, I finally brought some of those shoes....but not for me. Check out Matts feet. He thinks hes the coolest thing out!

Ok, so Abby's got the twins and I've just got a new book and a spare hour before Dan wakes up for another feed so do I start a new LO or start the book?!

PS: Has anyone else seen this cool site Journalers Junction. It helps prompt you to journal about things. Its kinda like the dare sites, but for journalling. Very cool, especially if you're stuck.